RJ (not THAT RJ)

It is appallingly obvious that the Pats get all the calls. They don't need them but they get them anyway.

If it doesn't get called, it is a good play. And against the Pats it never gets called, so there is no risk for Branch in pushing off....

Amen. I know the schedule has shifted to the evening on Saturday, but it feels so odd to have the west coast game be the "early" game.

I just did click on it, and my day was enriched immeasurably.....

That game was a real heartbreaker... coming just a week after the Bills had gone down to Miami and crushed the Dolphins. They were only 7-6 but held tiebreakers on all their possible rivals for the playoffs. Then Kelly got hurt, the D simply could not stop Warren Moon in the 4th Q, and they got blown out by the Pats the next week....

I did not know that about Paup's contract. Interesting. He was such a huge factor in the 1995 turnaround, playing on the opposite side of Bruce. If Bruce had gotten a flu shot, they would have beaten the Steelers that year... oh well. Paup declined very fast though thanks to a groin injury. By 1997, the next collapse year, he was a shell of himself, constantly overrunning plays and being out of position against the run. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Quite so, PTR, though one could argue that the Bickering ended during the 1990 season (remember the worst bickering moments happened during the 1989 season—from Kelly calling out House to TT dissing Kelly to the coaches' rumble), which contributed to their SB run.

Or about how Stevie would have dropped the pass. [it had to be said. ]

That team was basically old and tired. The defense collapsed in many games, especially against the pass, and Kelly got hurt against Minnesota late in the season. That was a frustrating season from the opener, at home against the Jets, when they drove down the field for a FG on their first drive and went on to lose listlessly, 23-3. The 1995 team turned it around in large part because they hired Wade as DC and brought in Paup and Washington. Yup on the Thanksgiving game. They gave up a flea-flicker TD on the first drive (maybe even the first play?), and then a TD on the next drive. Spent the rest of the day fighting uphill. When they pulled within a TD late in the 4th, Kelly, who had a spectacular game, threw a pick-6. Another emblematic game of that season

Indeed it was, and this is where SJBF is really on to something. The problem in any sport is that officials will be fallible. In football, that problem is magnified, since a minor infraction, if called, can invalidate a decisive play at any time, even if the infraction has no impact on the play itself (for a painful Bills example, how about the thown-in-a-fraction-of-a-second flag for delay of game against the Bills on 4th down in the Cincy playoff game in January 1982?) , just as a major infraction, if missed, can allow a decisive play to stand. I have no idea how to eradicate such dangers, but there it is.

The game was an embarrassment all around, and if I am not mistaken, the officials (years later, natch) actually apologized to Seattle. Whether it was a full-on fix or not is irrelevant. At best, Pitts was very fortunate to receive several favorable calls at crucial moments.

They took away a TD... and called a personal foul for a low block on the seattle QB who was making a tackle. That set up Pitt's clinching TD.

I am sure the folks in Jax are awaiting eagerly the empty backfield on 4th and short...

Merlin, thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering...

How does Miles justify punting on that last 4th down?

That stat says a lot about how much the game has changed in recent decades. Remember, Jim Kelly's best year topped out just above 3000 yards, and this year, three QBs threw for 5,000+.....

Honestly, none of this is a surprise, but most people are so quick to worship Polian and hate on Ralph that they refuse to admit there is blame on both sides.

I had never considered this aspect of his holdout. Yikes indeed.

That is an important and sensible point. That hope for parlaying past experience into future success is the one positive reason for the old boy network.

Thanks!

Sometimes I wonder, man. Though I guess some people love the pain. The rookie holdout thing is a good point that is often forgotten in the recent hagiographies of Mr. Maybin. He missed a big chunk of his first training camp, and still signed for a slotted amount. That is on him.

Oh yes. Baseball has always been notorious for the cronyism. The fact that someone like Don Zimmer, for example, received a lifetime sinecure as a "bench coach" is exhibit A. Imagine that.

True that on both counts.

Well, I hope they pick up a network station that has an iPhone app....

I think that there is a high premium placed on experience, no matter the actual success level. Once you have been an assistant (let alone a head coach) there is apparently always a job for you. You may have to take a step back—from HC to-coordinator, co-ordinator to position coach, or from pro to college—but once in the club it appears you have a promise of lifetime employment, with the assumption being that as long as you are familiar with the practical aspects of being a coach, you can do different things with different players. Nice work if you can get it.